Die Cowboy Die

Quetzal – Die Cowboy Die
Reviewed by Sadie O., 6/5/07
Latin/rock/jazz/etc from Orange County with significant socio-political intent. Runs a gamut from totally folklorico to a few tracks that have no obvious Latin musical content; most is Latin with a twist (and often hard to describe…) Lots of breathtakingly gorgeous stuff here – Martha Gonzalez can hella sing, and the guitarists are fabulous. I use “guitar” loosely – check the insert for actual instruments.
No FCCs detected, although track 6 might get up some people’s noses.
I love 1 and 7, and I think everything will find someone to love it…
1. 5:23 ****high energy Latin-rock bounce with impassioned vocals in Spanish, about crossing borders.
2. 0:29 *acoustic guitar, harmonized vocals in English, sad verse by Woody Guthrie.
3. 3:44 ***midtempo rather funky beat with several interweaving guitar lines, male and female vocals in Spanish. Builds to a really powerful sound, interspersed with bits of flamenco-style percussion. Long fade.
4. 2:22 *pretty acoustic guitar and female vocals, rather sweet–folky.
5. 5:37 ***vocal intro, then somewhat uptempo salsa, female vocals, lovely and danceable.
6. 4:39 ***dual acoustic guitar intro, then slow 6/8 dance, female vocals in English, very political and pointed. Beautiful but deadly! Ends with “Cracker”.
7. 4:30 ****starts with random hand drums and acoustic guitar, turns into uptempo complex rhythm reminiscent of Flamenco, Spanish female vocals in chorus. Really gorgeous.
8. 0:51 *fade from previous track, then field recording of Jarocho musicians from Veracruz.
9. 3:43 ***power chord intro, then rocking midtempo dance that once was a cumbia, male vocals in Spanish.
10. 1:40 **downtempo and subdued acoustic guitars and bass, very lovely.
11. 3:59 **strong percussion, guitars and female vocal in Spanish. Vocals turn quite sublime. Whew!
12. 1:31 *very subdued electronics and bass, evocative.
13. 4:57 *10 seconds of subdued intro, then midtempo march with male vocals in English. Totally different from the rest of the record – rather like an 80’s pop tune.
14. 6:14 **guitar and female vocals in English, “smooth jazz” groove. Turns into strong electric syncopation with passionate female and male vocals, then back again. They’re definitely sincere!
15. 1:33 *random noises, then actual sound of breast pump, soft female vocals in English. Interesting…
16. 2:48 **very rootsy, uptempo acoustic guitar and female vocals in Spanish.
17. 1:41 *pretty acoustic guitars, very folklorico, male vocals in Spanish.
18. 7:01 *somewhat downtempo and downbeat folk-rock beat with electric guitar, female vocals in English. Ends 1:45 early, then 15 seconds silence, then sweet acoustic guitar and female vocals in English.